This invention relates generally to masking devices. More specifically, it relates to a masking shield for covering objects adjacent an area being sprayed. Still more specifically, it relates to a shield that protects a sidewall of an automotive tire from flying spray, while a side face of a wheel is being refinished by a spray gun or the like.
Heretofore, when an automobile body or when only the wheels are being refinished by spraying, such as in a commercial car repainting shop, the tire side walls are always masked over, so as to prevent paint getting sprayed on the tire that is mounted on the wheel, and the need to then clean up the tire sidewall afterwards, or else it eliminates the time-consuming chore of first dismounting all of the tires from the wheel rims and then re-mounting them again afterwards. Tire shields for such purpose have, accordingly, been developed in the past, such as, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,222 to Hall, U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,401 to Kordenbrock, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,081,666 to Gunn. However, in a shop that services many automobiles having wheels of all sizes, such shields have the disadvantage of not being suitable to fit all these sizes, so that numerous sides of wheel templates or stencils must be stored on hand for interchangeable use. This situation is, accordingly, in need of an improvement.